Comelec: 14% of ballots printed so far ahead of May 12 polls

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia joins National Printing Office (NPO) Director III Arjay Lim, Comelec commissioners Ernesto Maceda Jr. and Rey Bulay with Miru Inc. vice-president Cho Song Rea during the ceremonial turnover of the printing machines and printing of test ballots for the 2025 National and Local Elections at the NPO in Quezon City on Saturday, October 26, 2024. —File photo by Niño Jesus Orbeta | Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines — Almost 14 percent of over 72 million ballots have been printed a week after the resumption of its production, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Monday.

Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia said that the 10,051,712 of ballots have been printed, representing 13.94 percent of 72,107,420 ballots to be printed for May 12 polls.

READ: Comelec resumes printing of ballots after repeated delays

These 10 million ballots consist of ballots allocated for five regions including the Bicol Region, Caraga Region and Batanes province.

Garcia said that, at this rate, he is optimistic that the printers of the National Printing Office (NPO) and South Korean election systems provider Miru could reach the April 14 deadline.

The Comelec resumed the printing of ballots on Jan. 27.

The printing process of Comelec first began on Jan. 6 but has since been delayed thrice due to Supreme Court’s temporary restraining orders which compel the poll body to add the names of senatorial aspirants it previously declared as nuisance candidates.

In line with this, NPO will help Miru in fulfilling the printing of more than 72 million ballots..

Meanwhile, Garcia said the Comelec may hire up to 300 more ballot “verifiers” to fast track the process.

After the printing of ballots, it undergoes machine verification before a manual verification.

Of the total number of these printed ballots, Garcia said only about 2. million to 3 million have been verified.

“The printing is way ahead while the verification falls behind,” Garcia said.